Alabama's unemployment figures for the month of March have improved slightly over the previous month. The Alabama Department of Industrial Relations said Friday that the unemployment rate fell to 9.2%, down from February's rate of 9.3%.

"A decrease in the unemployment rate is always better than an increase," said ADIR Director Tom Surtees, "However, we can't get too excited because there are still nearly 200,000 Alabamians out of work."

March's rate represents 195,374 Alabamians who are unemployed, down from 196,714 last month. The figure is down "significantly" from March of 2010, Surtees said, when there were 215,067 unemployed.

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates in March were: Shelby at 6.7%, Coffee at 6.9%, and Madison and Pike Counties at 7.5%. The counties with the highest unemployment rates were: Wilcox at 20.0%, Monroe at 16.0%, and Perry at 15.8%.

CHECK YOUR COUNTY

Budget cuts will force the state to close three satellite crime labs. The Department of Forensic Sciences also will no longer process crime scene evidence.  Law enforcement officials across the state said they were concerned about the cuts.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said the Department of Forensic Sciences is a valuable tool in helping to bring criminals to justice.

"Their analysis of evidence that we seize at crime scenes is crucial to us identifying perpetrators linking them to the crime and presenting a complete case file to the district attorney for prosecution," Jones said.

The department is headquartered in Auburn.  The lab there will stay open, but the agency is closing labs in Florence, Calhoun County and Dothan.  It will move those employees to other labs in the state.  While Lee County has officers who can process crime scene evidence, smaller agencies do not.  So the state's cuts could have more of an impact.

On April 12, 2011 the Dothan Police Department made a felony arrest in a forgery case. Police say Tracy Woisin obtained a payroll check issued from a private business to an employee of the company. Woisin cashed the check at a gas station in January 2011. The company was contacted by the employee who did not receive his check and their bank tracked the cashing location. Investigators then worked with the bank and gas station to identify the suspect.

• Tracy Lynn Woisin, white female, 38 years of age, of  Headland, Alabama was arrested and charged with Second Degree Possession of a Forged Instrument with a $5,000 bond.